The Federal Penitentiary Service in Russia reports the death of Alexei Navalny in a penal colony
Kharp, Russia (Citizen) — Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service has announced the death of Alexei Navalny, who was called a "Russian oppositionist," in penal colony No. 3 in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
Navalny's team claims that they have no confirmation of his death.
"The Federal Penitentiary Service in the Yamalo-Nenets Okrug is spreading the news of the death of Alexei Navalny. Alexei's lawyer is on his way to Kharp (where penal colony No. 3 is located — ed.). As soon as we have any information, we will report it," Navalny's spokesperson Kira Yarmysh wrote.
"If this turns out to be true, I want Putin, his entourage, friends and his government to know that they will be held accountable for what they have done to me, my family and my husband. And these days will come very soon," his wife Yulia commented on the announcement of Navalny's death at the Munich Security Conference.
The head of the European Council, Charles Michel, said that "the EU holds the Russian regime for sole responsible for this tragic death".
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Navalny's death a grim reminder of "what Putin and his regime are all about".
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba also reacted to Navalny's death.
"Politkovskaya, Litvinenko, Magnitsky, Nemtsov, Navalny are only some of the most well-known names on the long list of critics killed by Putin...Putin eventually got away with it, and world leaders shook his hand again. This encouraged him to continue killing people," Kuleba said.
The Ukrainian foreign minister adds that any "meaningful engagement" with Moscow should take place only after Russia's defeat in Ukraine, when Putin "finally learns a lesson".
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said that Navalny was "obviously killed by Putin, like thousands of others who were tortured".
Putin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said that Putin had been informed of the news about Navalny. However, the Russian president did not comment on the events.
Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin blamed Navalny's death on Washington and Brussels, who allegedly benefited from it.
"All of them, their names are well known: from the NATO secretary general and the US leadership to Scholz, Sunak and Zelenskyy — those responsible for Navalny's death. They are the ones who have made a huge number of failed decisions and are clinging to their positions, and they benefit from his death," Volodin said.
The speaker did not specify which failed decisions he was referring to.
The Telegram channel "Ostorozhno, Novosti" stated that employees of the Russian state media had allegedly been instructed to limit their coverage of Navalny's death.
